Timeline managed by Gregor Orbino.;xNLx;Special thanks to: Ashley Rae LaBar, Ashley Tutera, Judy Harrison and Stephanie Cunningham for direction and support, the web team of Seth Norris, Alex Slaughter, Jaime Masson & Brook Phinney; Jed Corkill at Fast Design, Mariah Day for the time-lapse videos, David Miller for copy, Brenda Keagle for procuring new material, Nick Adamakis, for the majority of photos from the 2000's, Margret Puckett for her documents from the 1980's, and The University of Arizona Special Collections for much of the mid-20th century content.
The idea of a student recreational building had been proposed by President Cloyd Heck Marvin back in 1923, but it was not until March 1938 that the interest in such a building caused then President Alfred Atkinson to appoint a committee to draw up some plans and suggestions as to what should be in the proposed Student Union. This committee and a later one formed in 1940 were unable to obtain the necessary funding or to agree on a site particularly when it was suggested that the new building replace Old Main. The advent of World War II put an end to all plans temporarily, but provided a new and inspiring reason for pursuing its realization: a memorial to the students and faculty who had given their lives in both World Wars. Once again, in 1945, a committee was appointed, with W. Roy Wayland, Phoenix banker, as head, and a monumental fund-raising campaign began which was to cover the State, reach out to all UA friends and alumni, and last until the last dollar was obtained or promised. The original objective was $750,000, but by 1949 the goal had risen to $1,000,000. Plans were drawn up, rejected, redrawn. Various facilities were proposed, discussed, eliminated (such as a barber shop, a beauty shop, chapel, haberdashery, a visitor’s dormitory). Most emotional and vociferous was the struggle over the site, even when a compromise (some thought) was announced that Old Main would be left intact so much had been invested by the Navy in its rehabilitation and the Student Union would be constructed in the limited area in front of it. Fortunately wiser heads in time ruled out this plan, which would have made impossible any future structural additions necessitated by a growing student body. The final cost would be about $1,200,000 for construction and furnishings. One third of this came from the State Legislature, which recognized the need and obligation to furnish dining facilities for the growing enrollment. (The old inadequate Dining Hall was to be torn down.) One third was raised by alumni, faculty, students, corporations, and the general public. The remainder came from the sale of bonds which were to be paid off with income from student fees and sale of services. It was in the last year of President McCormick’s term that ground was broken for the first phase of the Union’s construction, not to be completed until his successor, Richard A. Harvill, had assumed the presidency.
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Completed early in President Harvill’s term of office, with its formal dedication an feature of his inauguration, this eagerly awaited facility took 16 months to build. But the result was worth the waiting, watching, and campus disruption. At last there was an adequate cafeteria, with a giant central kitchen, along with lounges, meeting rooms, and offices for various student groups. The two ballrooms provided a dancing area for 1,000 couples and banquet seating for 600. There was a browsing library and music listening rooms. A separate dining and lounge area was provided for faculty use. The basement contained a post office and games rooms, with a large area still available for further expansion. In its first year of operation the Student Union had approximately 100 employees and a gross income of #370,651. It served over 11/2 million people. There were over 1,800 separate meetings, conferences, teas, receptions, and dances sponsored by 293 different groups composed of students, faculty, alumni, and the public. All this was administered by a director and the Student Union Activities Board.
Wanted! The return of tableware and coffee cups that have been mysteriously disappearing from the Student Union Memorial building. Marvin "Swede" Johnson, Student Union Director, is asking the student who have taken the 1,048 coffee cups to return them to room 201. "Many committees and students have taken the cups for souvenirs or for mixing paints," said Swede. "I will gladly, upon their return, exchange them for chipped ones from the Catsbah and cafeteria." In addition to the disappearing cups, 452 forks, 408 knives, 242 soup spoons, 2,880 teaspoons, 517 eight oz glasses and 260 twelve oz glasses are missing. Approximately $1,048 in tableware has been stolen from the Union in the past year. The IBM clock which used to hang on the second floor was ripped out of the wall and several thermostat covers have disappeared.
Enter story info hereLearning from books isn’t enough for the girls in the Institutional foods class. It’s practical experience that counts. Where do they get their experience? Why in the modernly electrical equipped Student Union. The students spend three laboratory hours twice a week in the Kitchens and one lecture class per week. The class includes two types of instruction: quantity cooking and food service. In the quantity cooking class, the girls spend time in all of the different kitchens including the bakery, salad room and butcher shop. One special assignment to completed by the end of the semester is to cut up a butchered side of beef. While working in these food service areas, they are treated as employees. They schedule work hours with their supervisor, have time cards and are excused from lab to compensate for the time spent working. All this training prepares the food service personnel for jobs in the airlines, hospitals and other institutions, hotels, and school cafeterias. But it also gives them valuable knowledge for life after marriage.
Union funds are being diverted to support vice on campus, a special grand jury decided this week. Indictments have been issued against Marvin "Greed" Johnson and Billy "the kid" Larson. Johnson, head of the 9,000 member coop-loafers club, said there was nothing wrong with the way he spent an estimated $45 of surplus student funds that were employed by him. According to the grand jury report, $3.14 went to cigars, $5.36 to angostura, $36 for a bathtub, 39 cents for dog biscuits and 50 cents for ice cream cones. Johnson admitted that some people might not approve of his habits including putting angostura in his coop coffee to give it a distinct bitter flavor. "My plans are to make my coffee so bitter that no one else can stand it," Johnson said. "My plan backfired a bit when students kept drinking my coffee." By keeping students away from his coffee, "Greed" said students would always be thirsty so he and Billy "the kid" Larson could then sell their bootleg booze at the Union during cocktail hour. "I learned da racket durin’ da depression," Johnson said. The ice cream cones were used to bribe Larson.
Have there been weird monsters rattling your nerves this week? Don’t panic! They are spreading news of the SU Birthday party and they are really members of the ASUA publicity committee. This eerie activity will begin Monday November 9, 1958. Any self respecting ghoul wouldn’t dare miss it. Every year the Student Union Memorial building celebrates its birthday with a theme party. This year, for the seventh party, the Union is having a night of "Terror." Wherever a guest goes in the Student Union Monday night, there will be a new fright, from the ballroom to Louies. Those who are not afraid of death by beheading (beware the guillotine) will want to rock and roll to the Casuals, eat pizza a five cents a serving and drink wtches’ brew in Louies. The way to this marriment houwever, is guarded by a labyrinth. Frankenstein’s henchmen lurk here, hunting for volunteers to become monsters, or brave souls interested in a tour of the UA’s troture chambers. Anyone with a faint heart might ish to take in milder enteretanment a movie perhaps? Ghoulia will play host for the son of Dracula in the cafateria. Are there any Southerners in the crowd? SU suggest the former Coop. It has become an "Okeefenokee" type swamp for the evening complete with Wayne Sander’s Dixieland band. The alligator wandering around won’t be foooling. He’s authentic as are the witches and goblins. Perhaps the shack out in back belongs to Pogo. The snakes in the trees are supposed to be harmless but watch out, anything can happen at the "Night of Terror." All sorts of celebrities will be wandering around in the ballroom. Charles Addams and his family will be there, and it’s anyone’s guess who’s the hangman in the jr. Ballroom—Tom Dooley perhaps. SU director Billy Joe Varney has volunteered to be cadaver for the embalming demonstrations. Graves will be available to all guests and "Death" will be handing out death certificates. Larry Barker’s Playboys will also be playing. At 10pm, the whole party will converge in the ballroom for the cutting of the cake. The Student Union will be closed in the moring so SUAB members can decorate the Union.
Have your tried to eat lunch in the Student Union lately? Rough isn’t it. The Student Union food facilities are seating more people and doing less business this year than ever before, according to Billy Joe Varney, the Student Union’s director. The reason is obvious to anyone who walks in the Coop, the cafeteria or Louie’s between the hours of 11:30am and 1:30pm. The cause is inconsideration. Altogether too many students are lounging or spending leisure time between classes in the Coop and Louie’s during rush hour, and people who try to use the Union’s meal services legitimately are forced to stand and wait for a place to sit. Students who sit in the Coop or Louie’s and play cards, read or just sit and talk are being inconsiderate to their fellow classmates. At any other time but meal time it is all right to do these things. But to inconvenience so many students at meal time is unfair. Admittedly, the Student Union doesn’t have any other lounging facilities of any consequence. These are forthcoming and should be ready by next September, but that doesn’t help much now. Here is an example of how severe the eating situation is: Each year, the Student Union sets up a "snack bar" during lunch hours in the SU Arcade where students can buy sandwiches, drinks and fruit. In the past, this stand has only operated the first few days of school. It has been going three weeks now and still the Union is jam packed at noon. Varney said he feels hesitant about asking "lounging" students to make room for others wishing to eat, but we don’t feel that way. We are supposed to be mature people who can muster a little consideration. We just don’t see how anyone can sit and play cards or watch the girls and boys go by when students with trays full of food are wandering around looking for a place to sit. We realize that this editorial will be read by several who are, at the moment, sitting in the Union doing any number of the things we are protesting. Will you please move?!
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There are now more than 500 records in the Student Union music lending library reported Jane Johnson Student Union Activities Board subchairman in charge of the library.
The Student union arcade, north side of the building, showing part of the new 1962 addition on the left, replacing the former parking lot with a dining area called the Palo Verde Room on the first floor, and a new faculty dining room and lounge on the second.
Calendar of events from the Daily Wildcat.
Enter story info hereMrs. Prudence Merry, a Fine Arts senior, won first prize in professional judging last Sunday for the Student Union Activities Board's (SUAB) art contest.
The "Prexy Mixer" will be held from 8 to 11 o'clock Friday evening in the Senior Ballroom of the Student Union.
A collection of original editorial cartoons from newspapers throughout the United States and England are on display in the Student Union.
The Student Union Activities Board (SUAB) will sponsor the first in a series of forums Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. in the Student Union terrace dining-room.
The annual campus blood drive, sponsored by the Associated Students community service committee and the Arizona Red Cross, will be held in two weeks in the Student Union ball room.
Presentation of parts of Handel's "Messiah" will mark the 40th year of this Christmas tradition at The University.
The Student Union Activities Board (SUAB) has scheduled activities for the year ranging from college conferences to an art contest. Planned so far are a college conference, a "Meet the Prof" dinner, a forum on the common market, a Career Opportunities Fair, the Yuletide Festival and an amateur art contest.
Gambling tables, chorus girls and a marriage court will highlight the Student Union Activities Board's (SUAB) Las Vegas Night, to be held in the Student Union senior and junior ballrooms from 8 to 11 o'clock tonight.
Edward G. (Sandy) Beach, BPA senior, received the E. T. Bill Koehler award as the most valuable member of the Student Union Activities Board SUAB last Friday night.
Mary Helen Richardson was crowned the Desert Queen at the Desert Dance, held last Saturday evening in the Student Union Ballroom.
The ballrooms, three meeting rooms and the second floor north hallway in the Student Union underwent a face-lifting job this summer
The Student union Memorial building. located in the center of the campus. across from the Administration building. was formally opened on November 17, 1951. The Bronze Memorial Plaque on the south wall of the first floor arcade. dedicates the building 'with enduring affection in honor of the students, alumni and faculty of the University of Arizona who answered their country's call for service and gave their last full measure of devotion."
Night shot of the Union.
With several large dormitories being constructed on the west side of Park Avenue, many blocks from Student Union facilities, this food service center, at the conrer of Park and 5th street, boasted a cafeteria that could accommodate 500 persons and a branch of the SU book store. Its preliminary drawings revealed that it could be expanded to five floors. In the background can be seen two of the women’s dormitories, a portion of Arizona-Sonora at the left and Coronado, nearing completion, in the center.
More than 600 persons attended Friday’s open house in the new Park Student Center, fifth Street and Park Avenue, which opened yesterday. Students generally expressed the opinion that the building was beautiful and they were excited about its opening. "It seems very efficient. The wood paneling makes it a very relaxing place to eat," said Bill Allen, BPA junior. "The dish washing machine is fantastic," said Kitty McCaslin, LA freshman. "The entire operation is automatic." Peggy Rosencranz, on the fifty employees that will operate the center, said, "All of the students seem to be very impressed by the kitchen, which is entirely stainless steel. I’m very proud to work here." The cafeteria is supposed to work on a scramble system where as many self-automated machines as possible will be put on the food lines. "It’s robot-like," Sherrie Hunt, LA freshman said. "But the carpet makes it seem like a really respectable place to eat." The center was designed to serve the Law College and about 1,000 students living in residence halls on the westside of campus. Two new halls will also use the centers services.
The Student Union, the University’s largest business, is having trouble keeping up with the number of customers. Last year, the Union had over three million customers, an increase of almost two million in the last decade. Last year they bought 75,000 of milk from the food service facilities. They also ate 185,000 servings of green beans. 200,000 hamburgers, 425,000 doughnuts, 400,000 eggs and 1,750,000 slices of bread. They drank 300,000 glasses of coffee, 350,000 glasses of Coca-Cola, 50,000 glasses of orange juice and 90,000 servings of lemonade. To cope with this constantly increasing volume of business, the Union will build an extension to the food service facilities where the parking lot behind the Kaibab-Huachuca residence hall now stands. The SU director said that the new addition will be two stories with a sub-basement and room for three more additional floors. "Bids were extended in October and we hope to start building in January so the new facilities will be ready by next September," he said. "We plan to spend $800,000 and the state legislature will appropriate $600,000 for this purpose. It will be the third extension since the Union was built in 1951. The present facility can accommodate 18,000 persons and there are about that number of students here now. The out-of-state and non-Tucson students depend on the Student Union. They get their meals there and relax in one of the lounges or games rooms. The seat of student government is there and bookstore, which passes off profits to students, is located on the SU Arcade. Also within the Union is a check cashing counter, the offices of the University publications and even a place where telegrams can be sent. There are many more services such as banquet halls, and information desk and a lost and found.
The former Women’s Building swimming pool is now known as the Student Union Pool. This view of it is from the recently-completed new Administration Building on its east side.
Middle of the Mall, looking down on the Administration Building in the center, and the large Modern Languages Building nearing completion.
As early as 1967 plans were being made to construct a major addition to the Student Union Building, but it was not until the summer of 1969 that work got underway. Second Image: Meeting the bulldozer is the grassed patio where so many student often gathered for recreation, or to listen to those who held forth at "Speaker’s Corner." In the background is the south wall of the original east wing, with the bas-relief emblems (left to right) of the Navy, Marines, and Air Force; that of the Army is out of the picture on the left. (these sculptures remained in place, though unidentified, in the new enclosed arcade. Sadly the Air Force wings vanished in 1983 behind a candy counter called "Fudge Plus.")
Assembling at the Student Union Annex (former Women’s Building), about 275 UA students under the banner of the Student Peace Association joined other Tucson groups to march the three miles down Speedway and Country Club to Randolph Park for speeches and a peaceful demonstration.
Registration week will usher in the grand opening of the new $3.5 million addition to the Student Union. The 110,000 square foot addition to the twenty year old Union includes a movie theater, nightclub, dining room, art exhibition hall, three lounges and an enlarged Student Union Post Office. The Art Exhibition Hall on the second floor features the work of Ed Hunter during the opening week. The Hall of Fame, in which the Bobcats organization honors past distinguished graduates is located on the second floor as the Cactus Lounge. Located on the basement level is a 225 seat nightclub called the Cellar, where a stage is set for various bands and music groups to perform. Performances at the club are free but a 75 cent admission may be charged for more notable bands. Louie’s Lower Level has been expanded and remodeled. A new hallway leads past the palace of sweets and up to the new Post office. The new post office allowed for the expanding of the games room, which added three pool tables and a ping pong table. Eventually, the games room will be moved underneath the Gallagher Theater to make room for a new student activities area. The 630 seat Gallagher Theater named for Edward J. Gallagher who contributed films and artwork to the University, is located on the east end of the second floor.
Completed in the summer of 1971, the vast 3-story addition doubled the original square footage, and included a 630-seat theater, a ballroom with seating capacity of 1,200, various student and faculty lounges on three levels, exhibit areas, and more meeting rooms, offices, and post office boxes. Besides the expanded cafeteria facilities, there was a large more formal dining room on the third floor with table service called the "Union Club" which also had areas for private dining. "The Cellar" on the first floor, with dark wood booths, a small stage and dance floor, provided a coffee house type of atmosphere. Soon to follow were new games rooms and enlarged photography services. It was all well worth the confusion and inconvenience of the seemingly endless two years of construction.
If you were in the Student Union Cellar at the University of Arizona around noon Wednesday, you could have seen some free '50ish television programs, like "Bums and Allen," or "I Love Lucy," and sipped away at coffee at five cents a cup. You might also have found yourself rubbing elbows with Groucho Marx. Several times. There were four of them there. The Fonz and Pinkie were supposed to show up and Marilyn Monroe was invited but didn't come. It was all part of the 25th anniversary celebration at the Student Union. Wednesday's portion was an open invitational "look alike" contest for imitation Fonzes, Pinkies, Grouchos and Marilyns. Groucho is evidently more popular, at least more imitable, than the others, hence, four Groucho contestants to the no shows in the other categories. The celebration will go on through tomorrow. There will be selections from 1950 radio favorites today at noon in the Cellar. Coffee will be a nickel, a dime for the large size, through the week, cold drinks a dime and hot dogs are available for 15 cents.
Donald Haskin, member of the UA Art Department, designed this 15 foot, 2800 pound stainless steel creation – an abstract concept of an Indian petroglyph costing $7,000 – which was installed at the new entrance to the Student Union Memorial Building. ts base was intended to be filled with rocks, "including boulders bearing real petroglyphs," but this never came to pass and today the figure appears to be standing somewhat naked in a shallow concrete bathtub.
The new starting point for many University hikers may be the Student Union basement.
Sprinkles out at Palace of Sweets
The University of Arizona Student Union yesterday marked its 25th anniversary with the biggest birthday cake imaginable.
He didn't tell me and I didn't ask.
Even this photograph does not stretch far enough on the left to include the Student Union’s "other half" -- the original south wing. Within its sprawling interior it bustles with activity and swarms of students night and day. The SU Activities Board sponsors cultural programs, speakers, exhibits, game tournaments, and parties. Even the various eating areas change and offer new choices. The wide walkway of the Union’s former arcade now has an out door dining area for patrons of the Fiddlee Fig (former Palo Verde) cafeteria just behind it. A far, far cry form the one small and very plain Dining Hall of 1903. Or those temporary crowded "rec. halls" in the basements of the Women’s Building and Old Main.
The Student Union Activities Board coordinates a range of recreation activities that students can get involved with. SUAB arranges programs for the Student Union. Any student can join a programming committee.
Rising Star Series, the ASUA concert organization that brought the Police and the Bus Boys to the University of Arizona, is seeking applications.
Can a person be in three places at the same time?
Enter story info Once upon a time, there was a merry band of minstrels that, roamed the village of Tucson, playing music aplenty. The Serfers performed at jolly neighborhood taverns like Pearl's Hurricane (now an empty lot) and Tumbleweeds (recently the subject of a tragic arson), and the villagers of Tucson were happy.
Now's the time.
By the time Oingo Boingo got to its sixth song, "Grey Matter" the beat and the heat were begnning to-have their way with the crowd of 800 in the Student Union ballroom on the University of Arizona campus last night. Because of a power failure at approximately 7 p.m., the air conditioning in the Student Union was off for an hour.
Joe Schmalzel's series of sculptured-wood crucifixions is both beautiful and horrifying. It is beautiful in its dark tonalities of polished wood and sensuous modeling, while horrifying in its representation - however nonrealistic - of a grotesque form of execution. The series is at once a chronicle of Christ's personal pain and an abstraction, aesthetically rendered, of a religious and cultural symbol.
Pat Metheny's Friday-night concert at the University of Arizona Main Auditorium was an evening of firsts. It was the first show the guitarist has ever played in Tucson. It was the first time that the Pat Metheny Group had performed eight of the tunes included in the band's set. And it was the first show of the final leg of the 1983-84 tour for the quintet.
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